Episode Summary

Film-buff Dawson finds his best friend, Joey, growing jealous of his attraction to a neighbor's granddaughter. Meanwhile, pal Pacey falls in love with a mystery woman, who is really a teacher at Capeside.

You don't jump into that kind of drama from the first episode.

An overall AVERAGE pilot. A little too desperate in my oponion. It's like the writers are saying Please please watch our show, we have everything. We have hot characters and sex talk and lots of other drama in store for you and as pathetic as all the drama being mixed together was, it worked. I mean seriousley the writers just took a huge ball of drama and threw it in our faces. The Joey turning into a woman and being jealous of Jen and Jen being an athiast and Jen's relegious grandmother and Pacey's encounter with that teacher and Dawson's mother cheating on her father and Dawson not getting into the film making class. It was just too much. It was like getting an overdose of what you wanted from the first episode. They also made Joey's charater more obnoxious than she should be. He rudness towards Jen on that date wasn't funny or entertainging. It was just like Joey was saying saying " I'm a b!tch ". How do you expect me to like and feel for a main character like Joey if you make her act this way on the first episode. As a critic I saw it was AVERAGE and flawed in many ways but as a fan.....I loved it. Fun to watch and very heartwarming.moreless

Jen, the new girl, arrives in Capeside and Dawson falls in love at first sight. Joey has trouble telling Dawson that things can't be the same between them. Pacey flirts with Tamara Jacobs, the new teacher at Capeside High.moreless

The "Pilot" episode was great way to start the series. It establishes the unique characters and the issues that they deal with. I love how all the teenagers are really smart and they use vocabulary that teenagers on other shows wouldn't use. I love Dawson and Joey's friendship and how it's establishes right away that they are the type of friends who tell each other everything. I love how Dawson jokes around about his mom having an affair. It's so interesting how Joey catches Gail having an affair with another mom. I love how Jen is introduced with Dawson falling in love at first sight and Joey completley jealous. I thought it was so funny how Jen stated that she was an atheist and the look on Gram's face is hysterical. I love how Dawson is filming a movie in this episode. I love that he's a film buff because I can really relate to his character. Pacey/Tamara kiss is genious. I love how there's a student/teacher relationship in show that's not afraid to make risk especially a show made in 1998.moreless

Addictive!

The pilot episode showed right at the beginning that Joey and Dawson were close friends but their friendship was changing as they grew. Interesting how Dawson didn't think it mattered when he shared a bed when with Joey. Climbing up the ladder to his window really is something that I found very intimate between them, which hopefully will not go away in the future episodes which I will keep watching. The conversations between Joey and Dawson were just great. Or should I say, I got addictived to this show just by what she has to say to him all the time.How come Dawson didn't see Joey getting jealous? I am sure Pacey got that part.moreless

Classic Episode. The End Of Everything Simple; The Beginning Of Everything Else...

In the pilot episode we learn that Dawson and Joey are best frtiends entering the 10th grade. Dawson's bff is Pacey, who is a slacker who thinks he is a ladies man. We meet the NY vixen Jen Lindley who is the object of Dawson's desire, much to the unliking of Joey.

Jen has a crazy, fanatical religious extremist grandma who keeps her on a tight leash. We learned that Dawson's dad is a stud, and Dawson's mom is a sexy adultress.But the highlight of the pilot was the relationship of Pacey, and his englisg teacher Tamara Jacobs. I remember when this episode first aired, people were mad about this storyline; saying that is was to "unrealistic", but in actuality it was a brutally honest storyline. Unless you never watch the news, you will see that teachers are in relationships with high school students all the time. Thank you Paul Stupin, and Kevin Williamson for shedding light on this sexy topic. I wish hot teachers were doing that when I was in school.moreless

the beginning of a great show

Well overall I thought this episode was great. We are introduced to the great Friendship of Dawson and Joey, and the troubled feeling that they feel at a weird time in their life (they are around 15 and Joey feels that they are now too old to share a bed etc - even though the real reason is that she really likes Dawson!!)I think this episode gives a good taster to what is to come, the stories are great and the show is brilliant, espcially Joey's reaction to Jen appearing into their lives by moving in next door to her love Dawson!You can tell from watching this episode that there is a lot of drama to come!moreless

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TRIVIA (15)

Goof: Dawson says that Joey has been sleeping over every Saturday since they were 7. However, when Jen is talking to her grandmother about Dawson and Joey, Grams says that Joey has been climbing through the window and sleeping in Dawson's bed for 10 years.

The scene when Dawson rides up on his bike to talk to Joey as she is walking along the road was filmed in two different locations: Dawson's side of the scene was shot in downtown Southport while Joey's side was shot in a Marina about a mile away.

Goof: Dawson makes a comment about how Steven Spielberg never had sex in his films but this is not true. At least two of his movies did: The Color Purple and 1941. Schindler's List also has a sex scene in it when Oscar is having sex in his office. However, this scene is the only nudity in the movie that is strictly gratuitous.

Goof: When Joey is explaining Dawson her reasons not to sleep over, she is getting her shoes on and lacing them. Immediatly after, as she is putting her coat on, Dawson teases her with the "Josephine" bit, so she jumps to the bed and both "fight" with him, only to give in and get in bed. In that moment we can see she is barefoot, and as the camera shows the big picture of the room, we see her shoes by the bed.

Goof: Pacey and Dawson walk into Dawson's house, Pacey's shirt is cream-colored with vertical stripes down the front. Once inside, he is in a totally different shirt, a white one with horizontal and vertical stripes.

Goof: When the kids go to school, the camera clearly shows a sign with "Capeside High School Home of the Wildcats" in one shot and then just moments later it shows "Capeside High School Home of the Minutemen". In the hallways, there is a "Go Wildcats" sign.

(Editor's Note: The reason for this goof is because in the unaired pilot the school mascot was the Wildcats. For the aired pilot some scenes where added/reshot, by this time the mascot had been changed to the Minutemen.)

QUOTES (27)

Dawson: So you've met Roger Fulford?Jen: Yeah. Nice guy.Dawson: Yeah. Jock quarterback by day, schizoprenic transvestite by night. That's what you call a Tori Spelling complex. He's partial to Victoria's Secret. Just so you know.Jen: But can he run in pumps?

Pacey: Can you say wet brain?Nellie: I'm sorry, what did you say? Did you toss a negative disparaging remark my way? Because if you did, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'd like to remind you who you are.Pacey: I know. I know. Your dad owns the place.Nellie: No. I'm talking about the huge, rotating world of life.Pacey: And who am I Nellie?Nellie: Nobody. That's the point. You're not there, you don't even exist, because if you did, I might care to respond to your pathetic little under-the-breath one liners. But instead, I take comfort knowing you're vapor. Pff. Pff. Non-existent. Nothing.

Dawson: See I believe that all of the mysteries of the universe, all the answers to life's questions, can be found in a Spielberg film. It's a theory I've been working on. See, whenever I have a problem all I have to do is look to the right Spielberg movie and the answer is revealed.

Dawson: There seems to have been some confusion with my schedule. I was denied admittance to your film class. Mr. Gold: Then you must be a sophomore. Dawson: And that's not a good thing?Mr. Gold: It's a very popular class Dawson. Seating is limited. There's a waiting list, priority goes to upperclassmen.Dawson: Well that's stupid.Mr. Gold: Excuse me?Dawson: Who made that rule?Mr. Gold: I did.Dawson: Oh.

Pacey: Man, video woman is my new English teacher. Okay? You, me, the movies tonight. We are stalking a faculty member. Dawson: Dude, negative. Pacey: What?! I actually have the possibility of losing my virginity in a high level fantasy fashion.

Pacey: Listen, it is a fact that a large percentage of older women are attracted to young boys on the verge of manhood. Okay. It keeps them feeling young. I read that in Cosmopolitan. Dawson: What are you doing reading Cosmopolitan? Pacey: Look, I have three menstrually diverse sisters, okay. Cosmo is my savior.

Script vs Screen: The italized bits were scratched away by Kevin Williamson out of the original script for the 1x01 Pilot episode:

Dawson: Joey, don't hit and run, explain yourself.Joey: We're not kids anymore. It's time to evolve.Dawson: Wait a second. Has something happened you're not telling me?Joey: Nothing notable. I just think our emerging hormones are destined to alter our relationship and I'm trying to limit the fallout.Dawson: What fallout? Are you saying we can't be friends anymore?Joey: I'm saying we are changing and we have to adjust or the male-female thing will get in the way.

The video montage with old footage of the gang goofing around that Pacey shows Jen in her hospital room is to the tunes of Alanis Morrisette's Hand In My Pocket. The producers for Dawson's Creek originally wanted this song to play in the opening credits of the show, but Morrisette said no.

When the kids go to the Rialto, they go in through a small entrance, that wasn't such actual Movie Theater entrance but a phony set constructed for the scene. The phony marquee was actually a Real Estate Office down in Southport. The inside of the Movie Theater is much larger auditorium called Thalian Hall, located in Wilmington, NC. This location was used as the local Movie Theater until the Rialto was tore down.

Southport, that is the filming location of some scenes in this episode, was also the shooting location of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, Writer and Creator of Dawson's Creek.

Show creator Kevin Williamson, had the set dressers move around an I Know What You Did Last Summer poster in various sets in the first season (Dawson's bedroom, the "Play It" video rental store, and Mr. Gold's film room). Kevin Williamson was the screenplay writer of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was based on Lois Duncan's novel of the same name.

Executive producer Paul Stupin and show creator Kevin Williamson mention more than once during the audio commentaries of the episodes that there was this saying in the Editing Room: "Cut To Katie". Referring to the process of editing, it meant that whenever there was a difficult or complicated scene they would cut to a close-up of Katie Holmes' face because it was always pleasing and lit up the screen.

Executive producer Paul Stupin and show creator Kevin Williamson mention during the audio commentary for season 1 that the show used so much female pop/rock because a female voice blends much better with dialogue scenes than a male voice, which interferes with dialogue.

According to Show Creator Kevin Williamson, "Dawson Creek" is an inlet of water five miles from where he grew up. Kevin Williamson mentions during the audio commentary for this episode that he grew up in a small town in NC that had a real "Dawson Creek". After the show Dawson's Creek became huge, they put up a sign for "Dawson Creek" in it real location (Kevin Williamson's hometown) but it kept getting stolen all the time.

Nellie: Hi, I'm Nellie Olsen.Jen: Nellie as in Little House?Nellie: I know, I know. Little House on the Prairie, it was like my mom and dad's favorite show. But no preconceptions okay? I'm not like her at all.

As mentioned by this Nellie, Nellie Olsen was a character on the hit TV Show Little House on the Prairie that ran from 1974 to 1983 on NBC.

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